GDC 2024

The Game Developers Conference, GDC for short, is one of the hottest game industry events of the year. Game developers meet to discuss the art and technology of games, show off their latest creations and innovations, celebrate the greatest games made in the previous year, and recognize industry veterans for their exceptional contributions.

I attended a couple of GDCs virtually during COVID, but this year was my first time attending GDC in person. Recounting my experiences of GDC2024, I'll be making some suggestions for future me and other first-time attendees on maximizing the experience. Not everyone attends these events with the same objectives, so I'll articulate what mine were, and as always, YMMV.

I bought my tickets in September of the year before since I was already planning to be in the US during the GDC period, and I am committing myself to developing my game studio, Digital Puppetry. Because I had attended some virtual events, I was eligible for an alumni discount and also took advantage of the early bird discount. This saved me around 30% off the final price for show attendance. So lesson one is to buy your tickets early. The next lesson is that an All Access conference pass was not worth it for me, and I'll expand more on that below.

Once I had committed to going to GDC, I arranged travel. I'm a very low-cost traveler, so I flew in on the Sunday before GDC week at a stupidly early time to get a cheap flight and then booked an AirBnB near public transport. The AirBnB was significantly more affordable than the conference hotels. Even making reservations so early, the conference hotels were already more than double the cost of the AirBnB. Because San Francisco has decent public transport, it only cost $5 per day to get to and from the conference via the train. However, being so far away meant leaving the conference area earlier than if I had stayed in a conference hotel. Since one of my primary objectives was networking, I may have had even better results had I stayed in a hotel near the venue. Perhaps trade off the ticket's cost for more expensive accommodation next time.

The check-in process at the conference was an absolute breeze and went very smoothly. I also ran into someone I'd been collaborating with virtually for some time and then met some cool gents from Argentina who provide outsourced Sound Design services. We exchanged details and have already started collaborating on the Sound Design for my game project.

Having an All Access Pass meant I could attend the Game Design workshops on the Monday and Tuesday. I had a great time learning about the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework, and I look forward to incorporating it into my game design process. It was also another networking opportunity, and I made several connections with persons coming into the industry, as well as a few veterans.

The conference itself was a blur, I quadruple-booked myself for every timeslot but attended very few sesions. I primarily went to sessions that weren't being recorded for the vault. Instead, I went to the networking events and made appointments with Microsoft's ID@Xbox team, the Xsolla team, and other potential partners. Further to that, I tried to strike up as many random conversations as I could, handed out about half of the box of business cards I took with me and grew my LinkedIn by a ton of new contacts. The standout session was the discussion between Alexander Seropian, founder of Bungie Studios, and Chris Melissinos from AWS Gaming. Alex's new company, Look North World, is making content for UEFN (Unreal Engine for Fortnite). What's interesting about this is that their focus is not on full-length AAA titles but rather on smaller experiences that entice the over 2 million Fortnite players to spend time on their island(s). Epic pays creators based on the player count and time spent on their islands, so this is an exciting alternative. It got me thinking about creating "demo" or "marketing" experiences in UEFN to leverage that player base and drive some of that traffic to your complete game. Another enlightening session I attended was the "Experimental Game Design" session. Several designers were showcasing their innovative and novel game designs. This reminded me how broad the medium is and that not every game needs to be Fortnite or Call of Duty. Another highlight was bumping into Jason Weimann, a YouTuber dedicated to teaching Unity development. I had used some of his ideas repeatedly and shamelessly in my own Unity projects, so it was great to thank him in person and get a selfie.

As I mentioned, my main objective in coming to GDC was to meet people, both peers and veterans and legends. Although I've been a business owner and software developer for a very long time, I've not been actively pursuing a career in game development before this last year, so I consider myself a newbie to the industry. Meeting so many other new and aspirant game developers was eye-opening and humbling. I remain in awe of the talent of these young people. I also wanted to meet people I considered in a different league from myself so that when I reach out to them to pitch an idea or ask for help or advice, they will remember me, and the outreach could be warmer. The networking events were well-run, and meeting at least 10 people in an hour-long speed networking session was possible. The takeaway was that most people at these events were looking for opportunities, which was fine for me as I was looking for talent, but I'm not sure what the value is for others or if I have it wrong. To reinforce my earlier point, a lot of networking happens in the "W", a hotel with a popular bar, and I made many connections while hanging out with people in the foyer of the Marriott.

I only attended two round tables, which I did not find very valuable or compelling. AI dominated the Freelance panel discussion for the 10 minutes I stayed there. The whining and gnashing of teeth about AI stealing our lunch will not stop the juggernaut. Putting aside the ethics of training AIs, a topic that can be a discussion all on its own, the reality is that it's here, and we need to harness AI. I don't believe that it can replace human creativity, but it does help speed up certain parts of the process, and we must lean into the things AI can't do instead of complaining about what it does better than us. I left that panel after 10 minutes since it wasn't going anywhere. I joined a panel on Outsourcing with perspectives from studios that use outsourced services and studios offering outsourcing services. What struck me was how similar the challenges they experience are to my own experiences running an outsourced software consultancy. I probably should have weighed in, as I had some value to contribute. Either way, this was interesting, and there were some nuggets dropped by both sides that I could take advantage of should I offer such outsourcing services or outsource some of my work. I didn't attend any other panels. They just didn't seem compelling enough.

The conference floor was a little underwhelming. This may be because of the state of the gaming industry, the fact that GDC is still finding its feet after COVID, or a combination of this and other factors, but the only stand of substance was the Unreal stand. There were many other booths, ranging from studios marketing their games, to tools, they were just small by comparison to what I'd experienced previously at other similar conferences. The country-specific booths were interesting, and I was once again struck by how poorly the South African government supports our industry and, in fact, any innovation or creative pursuits. The Unreal booth was worth the admission price, though. I had lengthy conversations about Epic Game Services, the Game Ability System, UEFN, their build tooling, and other topics I am interested in. What's great about this is that I was talking to the engineers and product owners specifically in charge of some of those streams within Unreal, and I hope to continue the conversation and potentially collaborate with them in the future. I was also able to discuss ID@Xbox and Microsoft Publishing with representatives from Microsoft and raise some concerns and questions with the team. These connections will be invaluable as I grow my studio.

The Indie Game Awards and Game Developer Choice Awards were held on Wednesday night to recognize the best games of the past year. Baldur's Gate 3 was a huge winner at the GDCA and took almost every category it was nominated for. I thought Cocoon deserved better and could've won any of the categories in which it was nominated. Sadly, it received no awards. Alanah Pierce was an excellent host, but I am not sure that the podium grandstanding by several of the winners and co-hosts was either appropriate or the best takes on the complex situations experienced throughout the world. I would rather we celebrate the great works of our peers in the industry. Yoko Shimomura, the composer for games such as Kingdom Hearts, Super Mario RPG, Street Fighter II, and Final Fantasy XV, received this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Fawzi Mesmar, received the Ambassador Award, for individuals who elevate the video game to a better place. Fawzi's career spans more than 20 years, and he has worked at several AAA studios, does mentoring and has also written the first book on Game Design in Arabic.

Overall, it was an exhausting week, and I loved every minute. Being among so many talented people, talking about my game, and getting such warm receptions and feedback from everyone was truly invigorating. I came home with a renewed focus and some refinements on ideas for the game, the setting, and the mechanics.

I will definitely go to GDC again, time, budget, and US immigration willing.